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US Cruisers 1883-1904 (New Vanguard)

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Manufacturer: Osprey Publishing
List Price: $17.95
Our Price: $10.60
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At the end of the Civil War the US Navy was the most technologically advanced navy in the world, but after the war this spirit of innovation faded and America's naval might dwindled. However, in the 1880s a "New Navy" was born and at the forefront of its fleet were the mighty cruisers. Lawrence Burr details how it was these cruisers that allowed America to once again display its power on the world's oceans. Exploring how the birth of this "Steel Navy" required the development of new shipbuilding, motive power, ordnance, and armour-plate production capability, he details the design and development of these ships.

Intricate colour artwork illuminates the technicalities of the design, especially their internal workings through a cutaway of the USS Olympia, which has been restored and is now on public display. This title also places these technological advances in context, through vivid accounts of how US cruisers were fundamental to the Spanish-American War of 1898, destroying the Spanish fleet at the battles of Manila Bay and Santiago. It was their performance at these engagements that marked the emergence of the US Navy as a major naval power, and America as a world power.


DESCRIPTION:

Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 355
EAN: 9781846032677
ISBN: 1846032679
Label: Osprey Publishing
Manufacturer: Osprey Publishing
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 48
Publication Date: 2008-06-17
Publisher: Osprey Publishing
Release Date: 2008-06-17
Studio: Osprey Publishing


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CUSTOMER REVIEWS:

Customer Rating:
Summary: Early Cruisers in the USN
Comment: Osprey has done it again. This is a too-obscure topic that is illuminated in useful depth, at a fraction of the cost of Norman Friedman's excellent book on cruisers (at about a third the cost).

The photos and illustrations are fascinating, and the text is illuminating. If you like the Osprey format (and I do, a lot), and if turn-of-the-century ABCD-generation cruisers fascinate you, this book is well worth the investment. If you're like me, this will open the door to further exploration into the ABCD fleet and the development of the Steel Navy just in time to defeat the Spanish in 1898 and launch America onto the world stage.

If this is your cup of tea, read it - then start saving for Friedman's book, and start looking into other books on the early Steel Navy, the Spanish-American war at sea and Teddy Roosevelt's Great White Fleet.

Ned

Customer Rating:
Summary: US Cruisers 1883-1904 (New Vanguard)
Comment: A good "snapshot" history of the early iron American navy cruisers. Whets the appitite for more information on these ships.

Rob

Customer Rating:
Summary: One of the Better Volumes in the New Vanguard series
Comment: The description of the transformational growth of the U.S. Navy from a backward, inward-looking coastal defense force to a true blue-water navy lies at the heart of Lawrence Burr's US Cruisers 1883-1904, which is 143 in Osprey's New Vanguard Series. This is a superb volume in the series, which not only delivers a great deal of information in a small space, but offers a very high level of graphic appeal. Overall, a well-put together volume that belongs on the bookshelf of anyone interested in 19th Century navies.

The volume begins with the order of three cruisers for the U.S. Navy in 1883, which the author notes as a watershed change in U.S. Naval policy toward a fleet capable of global operations. Gradually, the U.S. fleet shifted from a strategy of commerce raiding to a fleet capable of sea control, for which the new cruisers were at the forefront. Each class of U.S. cruiser ordered between 1883 and 1904 is described in some detail an further technical details are provided at the end of the volume. The volume is supplemented by superb color graphics and some very nice B/W photos. Overall, this is one of the better volumes in the New Vanguard series.


Customer Rating:
Summary: Very Nice Package
Comment: Nicely put together overview of a very neglected area of naval design and development. This volume also contains a useful appendix which has the book's only obvious technical error: when referring to gun calibers, the author (or perhaps an ill-informed and over-zealous editor) includes a decimal point were none should go. An 8in/51 caliber gun has a barrel length 51 times the 8 inch bore. The book has it written "8in/.51 caliber" which would mean the barrel is 4 inches long. This error should be corrected in any future printings.

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